SHANGHAI (Reuters) - BYD (SZ:002594), which outsold Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in electric car sales globally for the first time in the fourth quarter, will hand out rewards totaling billions of yuan to its Chinese dealers, according to two dealers with knowledge of the matter.
The Chinese automaker will pay 666 yuan ($93.17) per car to the dealers if they have achieved their sales targets in 2023, the people said. The number 666 is considered an auspicious figure in China since the number sounds like the word for "cool" or "amazing".
In total, BYD is estimated to pay up to 2 billion yuan as it sold more than 3 million units of pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids in the year, they added.
Chinese media outlet Yicai first reported BYD's dealer bonus on Tuesday. BYD did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
BYD has been rapidly expanding its sales network in China via dealerships to boost its sales, especially in lower-tier Chinese cities.
It had more than 3,400 stores in China selling its Dynasty and Ocean series of cars as of October, the highest among all brands, according to China Merchants Bank International.
BYD reported a total of 21 billion yuan in net profit in the first three quarters of 2023 with a sales of more than 2 million vehicles and components such as batteries and smartphone electronics.
BYD sold 3 million cars globally in 2023, 62% more than 2022, of which 1.57 million were pure electric vehicles (EV). Tesla said it delivered 1.81 million EVs in the same period, an increase of 38% from a year ago.
But for the fourth quarter, BYD beat Tesla out to the top EV maker spot, with sales mostly in China.
($1 = 7.1483 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(This story has been refiled to remove an extraneous word in paragraph 10)